Gyroscopic stabilizer for ships



Jan. 10,1928.

A. E. SCHEIN GYROSCOPIC STABILIZER FOR SHIPS original Fiied Aug. 1:5. 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 10, 1928.

A. E. SCHEIN GXROSCOPIC STABILIZER FOR SHIPS Original Filed Aug. 13. 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I (inventor 5. 6072mm WAN/W the art...

Patented: Jan. 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER E. SCHEIN, OF FLUSHING, YORK, ASSIGNOB TO THE SPERBY GYBO SCOPE COMPANY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 01 NEW YORK,

GYROSCOPIO STABIIIZEB FOB SHIPS.

Application fle'd August 13, 1920, Serial No. 403,181. Renewed 'J'une 7, v1827.

type of gyroscopic stabilizer known as the active type, although many of the features of this invention are equally adapted for the passive or other type of gyroscope also as will be readily apparent to those skilled in The invention relates more particularly to' the control devices for such. gyroscope designed to prevent damage to the same or the ship in case unusually heavy seas or-other unusual circumstances are encountered.

' A further object of the invention is to provide a positive means for preventmg the gyroscope from being thrown in under unfavorable circumstances thereby preventing damaging of the gyroscope before it has an opportunity of quenching the roll of the ship; A further object. of theinvention 1s to improve upon the bearings used for stabllizing gyroscopes and theoiling systems there Referringto the drawingsin which what is now considered the preferred form of the invention is shown Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the gyroscopicstabilizer. v.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertlcal section of the upper suspension bearing for the same.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the lower portion of the samcshowing the brakes, stop, and other control mechanism. m

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail, partly in section. of the stop and positive lock of the gyroscope.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a wiring diagram of the control unit as now constructed.

Fig. 7 is a wiring diagram of the improvements added by this invention. The corresponding wires are lettered a, b, and c in the two diagrams.

' Fig. 8 is a plan view of the small control gyroscope on a larger scale than the'mam gyroscope is shown.

Fig. 9. is a detail of the brake drums shown in Fig. 4. r v

The main gyroscope as shown isof the vertiral shaft type, being enclosed within the casing 1 mounted foroscillation in horizontal bearings 2 and 3 supported on the heavy uprights 4 and. 5 between decks. The bearings may be formed by providing the casing with hollow trunnions 6. A continuous supplyof oil may be introduced to the gyroscope through the pipe 7 which leads into the hollow member '8 projecting. within the hollow trunnion 6 of'the yroscope from whence the oil flows into the iorizontal bearing around annular channels 8' and u through the pipe 9 to the upper vertical caring and down through the pipe 10 to the lower vertical hearing. The pipe 9 is shown as branchin at 11, part of the oil flowing into the vertica thrust bearing 12 by means of a pipe 13, the other oil flowing to the vertical .guide bearings 14. The oil being fed under pressure flows up through the roller thrust bearing 12 out along through the roller race. 15 and thence through the outflow pipe 16 (shown in dotted lines).

Preferably the thrust bearing is of special construction and supports the entire weight of the gyro rotor at the top. For this purpose a heavy pin 18 is shown as threaded in the top 'of the main shaft and carries at its upper end a heavy collar 20locked in place by lock nuts 21, 22. Said collar. rests on the upper race 23 of the roller bearing. Said race bears directly on the rollers 24 supported by the cage 25. The rollers in turn rest. on the lower race 26. Instead of making the under-surface of the lower race of spherical contour as is usually done I prefer to support the same by heavy springs 27 in the center of which may be placed guide and stop pins 28. By this means a self aligning bearing is at all times provided since the springs will always permit the shaft to line owing to the rapid and severe changes of the stresses on the shaft, first in one direction and then the other as the gyroscope precesses back and forth. A-washer is shown as provided at 29 to prevent the oil from running back down .the shaft to'the scope. A conical sleeve30 isalso provided for this purpose. Certain 28' of the pins 28 may extend up into an aperture in the race 26 to prevent the samefrom rotating. The springs rest upon'annular member 31 which is shown as keyed in placeby keys 32.

Additionaloil fiows'into the upper guide bearing through pipe lI'jaround the annular recesses 33 and into the bearing proper 34 throughthe oil channels 35, 36. The overflow pipe is shown at 37. The overflow is carried down to an auxiliary gear pump 38 mounted at the lower portion of the gyroscope, from whence it is pumped up through the pipe 3.9 to circulate ovcr agaln.

' The overflow pipe of the entire system is shown at 8", the'oil in the external circuit passing through the usual pump, cooler, and strainer. but is fully described in the copending application of ElmerA. Sperry and Edward- G. Sperry, Patent No..1,387,018; patented Aug. 9, 1921.

Turning now to the control features, the precession of the gyroscope is shown as controlled in part by means of a'heav'y gear or rack 40 secured to the gyro casing. The said gear meshes with 'a pinion 41 (Fig. 3.) on the shaft of which is a gear 42 which meshes in turn with a second pinion 43 on the shaft of gear 44, thus constituting a train I-electromagnet 53 or the like is excited,

which attracts the armature 54 carried by the lever 51 thereby openingthe brake shoes. The brakes are powerful enough to bring the gyroscope to rest quickly at the end of each ordinary oscillation and ,to hold it looked as long as applied. Separate brake .drums 47 and 48 are shown on the shaft of the motor 45 and shaft 46' of the pinion 46 '(Fig. 9) so that the armature of the motor and the gyroscope may be braked independently and so that the shaft of the motor and the pinion shaft will not have to be accurately maintained in line. A flexible cou-' pling 55 is shown connecting the two shafts and brake drums.

In addition to the braking mechanism above described the gyroscope is also provided with a limit brake or stop 56. The

stop 56 lies in the path of the brackets 57' and 58 bolted to the casing of the gyroscope so that if the gyro precesses more than a pre- Y determined amount (say on either side the stop 57 or 58 strikes one of'lugs 59 or 60 on the member 56, thereby imposing an additionalv and-powerfulbrake upon the. gyro-- scope. Themember 56 is shown as yieldingly supported on a shaft 61 rigidly held in brackets 62, 63. On said shaft are shown a nair of sleeves 64 and 64"having threaded thereon at their inner extremities collars 65- .The external circuit is not shown erful and bearing at their outer ends against the fixed supports 62 and 63. If the bracket 57 strikes the lug 59, for instance, (see Fig. 4)

member 56 will be moved to the left carrying with it the sleeve 64 and compressing the heavy coiled spring 66 against the opposite collar 65. In case exceptionally heavyweather orv a series of large waves are encountered, even with the brakes 47 and the stop 56 the gyroscope may pick up a dangerous precessional velocit especially since the stop 56 is not primar' y energy destroying as the spring 66 imparts tothe gyroscope all of the energy that has been stored therein by its compression on the return oscillation of the gyro. Therefore, in very heavy weather if continuousseas are encountered which impart greater rolling forces on the ship than the gyro was designed to suppress, or if the regular brakes fail to function for any reason, the gyro will build up a tremendous precessional velocityv which would sooner or later break the stop 56. To prevent this I have provided a positive lock or extra powrake designed to-bebrouglit into op.- eration when the velocity of precession exceeds a predetermined amount, inother words when the capacity of the gyroscope for.stabilizing has been exceeded' For this purpose I have mounted upon the member.

56 a pair of spring pressed pawls 67, 67 facing in opposite directions and also upon said member slidably'mounted in brackets 68 is a .rod- 69 having two sets of teeth 7 O thereon designed to come into contact with one or the other of the pawls in case-the member 56 is movedmore than the predetermined amount to the right or left as the case, may be. If the pawl 67 moves over to the left in Fig. 4, for instance, far enough to engage'the teeth 70 it will at once be seen that when the gyroscope starts back the spring 66 will force the rod 69. Pivoted to the rod is a bell crank lever 71 connected to suitable linkage 72 for operating the positive stop 79. Said linkage is shown as comprising link 72, bell crank lever 73, link 74, a second bell crank the member 56 to the right carrying with it lll) lever 75, link 76, and a third bell crank lever 77 which is connected to a spring pressed lock pin 78 on the positive stop member 79. Also connected to lever 71 is a switch 152 designed to open the main circuit of precession motor andthereby cause the brake to be applied until manual] released when the linkage is actuated. aid member 79. is shown as having on the upper'surface thereof one or more teeth 80 designed to engage the teeth 40 on the gyroscope and having a cylindrical shaft 84 slidably mounted in they bracket 81.' Said member is normally held retracted by the pin 78 engaging a hole therein, as shown in Fig. 4, but when said pin is withdrawn bv' the means above described teeth 80 are thrown outwardly by the spring 82 to engage the teeth on the gyroscope and lock the gyroscope against further movement. At the same time a plurality of pins 83 slidably mounted around the top portion of the bracket 81 are forced behind the shoulder 83' on the shaft 84 to hold the teeth in engagement with the gear 40 and prevent disengagement thereof under any circumstances. The pins-are thrown outwardly by means of a disc 85 having a 'plu- .ral'ityof curved slots 86- therein through which extend small cross pins 87. A plurality of springs 88 and 89 serve to normally rotate the disc clockwise to hold the pins toward the center, said pins being withdrawn by rotating the handle 90 secured to the disc 85 counterclockwise, as shown in Fig. 5. To unlock the positive lock, therefore, it is necessary both to release the pins 83 by the rotation of the handle 90 and also to compress the spring 82 by placing the footon the pedal 91 which will also reset switch 152 through linkage 72. At the same time the pawl engaging the bar 69 should be released. As the shaft 84 is moved downwardly the pin 78 will snap into place and hold the same in the position shown in Fig: 4.

The precession motor, and to a certain extent the brakes, are preferably largely controlled from an auxiliary or control gyroscope such as shown, for example, in Fig. 8. The control gyroscope 92 is shown as mounted for precession about a vertical axis 93 within a frame 94. For centralizing the same preferably a plurality of springs or sets of springs are employed, one set 95, 95' acting continuously against a knob 96 on one end of the gyroscope casing, while the other set 97, 97 is only. brought into act-ion when the gyroscope precesses more than a predetermined amount, in other words, only when the bracket 98 on the opposite side of the gyroscope comes into contact with one or the other of pins 99 or .99. Said pins are showmas mounted in brackets 100 and normally pressed outwardly by the action of said springs 97 and 97. The action of the springs 95 and 95" and contacts may be synchronized with the main gyroscope by an adjustable means 100. As this form is' not'part of the present invention and is described in a prior patent to Elmer A.

Sperry, No. 1,312,085, for stabilizing gyro-' scopes, dated August 5,1919, no further details will be given of the same. Suflice it to say that the force exerted bythe precession of the control gyroscope against the centralizing .fsprings is substantially proportional to the velocity of roll of the shi at each instant, assuminga constant speed of rotation of the ro rotor. a

The control 0 the main gyroscope'fromthe control gyroscope is mainly affected through contacts 102 .and 103 on the gyroscope designed to contact with complementary contacts 102', 103. Said contacts, referring to Fig. 6, control the precession motor 45 through double acting relay 104 operating to reverse the motor as the control gyroscope precesses first against one contact and then the other. In said circuit also are the limit switches 105, 105' of the main gyroscope (see also Fig. 3) which are opened in turn by lug 106 on the trunnion of the gyroscope to brake the motor circuit. The electromagnet 53 is connected in the motor circuit so as to be responsive to the current flowing through the motor. Thebrakes 48, therefore, apply not only when the circuit is broken but also when the current flowing through the motor falls below va predetermined amount, in other words, when the speed of precession of the gyroscope e gceeds a predetermined amount. The brakes, however, when applied by the opening of one or the other of limit'swltches 105 or 105. are instantly released the mo ment the ship reverses its roll, by reason of the fact that the controlgyro completes a circuit at this time through the other -one of its pair of contacts 102102' or 103-103, thus completing a circuit to the other side of relay 104 to drive the motor 45 in the 0pposite direction, and also causing a flow of current through the winding 53, thereb releasing the brakes. This action is wel understood in the art and is described more in detail hereinafter in connection with the special control illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. The limit switch 152, however, is placed in the main motor circuit, so that when it is opened the motor is dead and the brakes 48 applied until the switch is manually closed may be mounted on the bracket 98. Cooperating therewith are contacts 109 and 109 on the pivoted armatures110 and 110'. Operating in conjunction with said armatures are a pair of electromagnets 111 and 111 carrying on their forward faces contacts and 121, and 120' and 121, respectively.

In this diagram the gyro spinning motor is shown at 112 having compound wound field windings 113 and 114.. In circuit with the auxiliary contacts above described are a pair of relays 212 and 112' each relay \having a v i spring returned armature 114 and three sets of contacts 115, 116, 117, contact 117 being closed when the relay is deenergized and contacts 115 and 116 being closed when the relay is energized. (These contacts are primed on relay 112'.) The operation of this portion of the invention during the ordinary operation of the gyroscope is as follows:

Supposing the control gyro is so placed that the contact 108 has contacted with contact- 109. A circuit will, therefore, be completed through the relay coil 112 pulling the armature 114 over and closing the top contacts 115, 116 and also opening contact 117', as shown in Fig. 7. The contact 115' being in parallel with contacts 108, 109 keeps the circuit completed through the relay coil 112 when the vessel reaches the end of the roll in this direction and has opened contacts 108, 109. If now the vessel rolls in the other direction the contact 108 will touch contact 109 completing the circuit through the relay coil 112, pulling over itsarmature, and closing contacts 115 and 116 and opening 117 (Fig. 7). Now we notice that the circuit is completed on one side of the line through the cqntacts 116, 116' to the main contacts 102 and 103 and as the vessel continues to roll the contact 103 will move against cooperating contact 103 which will operate the reversing switches on the precesslon motor, as disclosed in Fig; 6.

This operation continues so long as the main control unit has sufiicient roll quench- If now a roll comes which is ing power. greater than that for which the stabillzer has been designed the contact 108 moves over into contact 109' and continues moving in that direction, completing the circult between additional contacts 120 and 121 by 7 back contact 209' on armature 110. Upon inspection of the wiring diagram it will be noticed that both relay coils 112, 112 are now short-circuited causing the armatures to move to the right, closing contacts 117, 117 There is now a complete circuit from the main supply wire 122, resistance 123,

contact 117 magnet coil 111', contacts 120- and 121', and back to the other side of the line. It will then be seen that the swinglng' contact 209'-will beheld over against the contacts 120 and 121 by the magnet coil 111. Since both relays are now open contacts 102 and 103 are dead and no further precession of the main gyro unit can take place s nce the precession motor is now deenergized and brakes 48 applied to lock the gyroscope. As the. end of the'roll is reached the contact 108 moves away from the swinging contact 110' and resumes its normal position. As the vessel now rolls to the other side, assuming a large roll again, contact 108'move's overthe holding magnet 111' is energized liold-' mg the swinging contact 109 over againstthe contact 120, 121'. As long as a large roll is continued the action outlined above will take place and the stabilizing gyroscope remain locked, but as soon as two small successive rolls appear the relays are reset and the contacts 102, 103 are again energized.

It will thus be seen that by comparatively simple means I have provided an accurate means for preventing damage of the gyroscope without materially a'fiecting its efliciency in quenching the rolling of the ship. One of the principal; uses for the above described mechanism is to prevent the gyroscope from being thrown in when the ship is rolling heavily. Suppose switch 107 were thrown in under these conditions. The pro tession controlling contacts 102 and 103 ,would remain dead and therefore precession motor 45 locked through brakes 48, until the ship had ceased to roll more than a predetermlned amount for two successive rolls, whereby the gyroscope would be automaticallv unlocked and placed under the control of the control gyroscope.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have herein described the principle and operation of my invention,

together with the apparatus which I now extends -to such use.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: p

1. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships mounted for precession with respect thereto, of meansfor locking the gyroscope against precession in either direction, and means brought into action by excessive rollof the ship for causing said locking means to lock the gyroscope against all recessional movement during said excesslve rolling. p

2. The {combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships, a braking means there: for, means for-normally applying the brake as the gyroscope approaches the limits of means to operate.

bilizer for ships mounted gyroscope, and means its precessional swings, means for releasin the brake as the shlp reverses its roll, an extraordinary means for non-releasably applying the brake if the gyroscope exceeds the normal limit of its precessional swings.

3. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships mounted for precession with respect thereto, of means for throwing said gyroscope into and out of operation, and means for preventing said other means from throwing the giy when the ship is ro ling more than ,a predetermined amount.

4. The combination with a gyroscopic staor precesslon thereon, of a stop member for limiting the extent of precession, a ositive lock for the rought into operation by the precession of the gyroscope of more than a predetermined amount beyond the normal position of said stop for operating said lock.

5. The combination with a yroscopic stabilizer forv ships mounted or precession thereon, of a positive loclrfor the gyroscope, and means brought into operation by the precession of the gyroscope of more than a predetermined amount for causing said lock to operate. a

6. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer, of means for braking the gyroscope,

toward the endof an oscillation, means for accelerating the same at the beginning ofan oscillation, and means responsive to excessive amplitude of precession of said gyroscope for rendering said second means inoperative and said first means operative to prevent oscillation of the gyroscope in either direction. 6

7. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships mounted for precession with respect thereto, of means for locking the gyroscope against precession in either direction, and means brought into action by the gyroscope itself for causing said locking 8. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer, of means for braking the gyroscope toward the end of an oscillation, and auxiliary braking means, means for accelerating the same at the beginning of an oscil lation, and means responsive to the severity of the ships roll for rendering said last named means inoperative and said first two means operative. r

9. In a ship stabilizer, the combination witha stabilizing and a control gyroscope, of means for controllin the stabilizin gyroscope actuated by bot gyroscopes, an means responsive to an abnormal precession of either gyroscope for locking the stabilizing gyroscope.

10. In a ship stabilizer, the combination with a stabilizmg. and a control gyroscope,

of means for controlling the stabilizing I roscope into operation gyroscope actuated by the control gyroscope, and means responsive to an abnormal precession of the control gyroscope for locking the stabilizing gyroscope and rendering the control thereof inoperative, and means responsive to normal precession of the control gyroscope for re-establishing the control of the stabilizing gyroscope.

11. In a ship stabilizer, the combination with a stabilizing and a control gyroscope, of means for controllin the stabilizing gyroscope actuated by bot gyroscopes, and means responsive to an abnormal precession of the control gyroscope for locking the stabilizing gyroscope and rendering the control thereof inoperative, and means res onsive to successive normal oscillations of t e control gyroscope for. re-establishing the control of the stabilizing gyroscope.

12. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships, ofmeans responsive to abnormal rolling of the ship for throwing said gyroscope out of operation and means responsive to normal rolling for re-establishing the operation thereof.

13. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships, of means for throwing the same into and out of operation, and means responsive to the roll of the ship for preventing said gyroscope from becoming operative until the roll does not exceed a predetermined amount or velocity.

14. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships, a braking means therefor, a safety stop, means for normally applying the brake as the gyroscope approaches the limits of its precessional swings, means of releasing the brake as the ship reverses its roll, and extraordinary means for non-releasably applying the brake when the gyroscope strikes said stop. I

'15. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships, a braking means therefor,- a locking means, means for normally applying the brake as the gyroscope approaches the limits of its precessional swin s, means for releasing the brake as the ship reverses its roll, and, extraordinary means for non-releasably applying the brake and brin ing said locking means into operation if t e gyroscope exceeds the normal limit of its precessional swings.

.16. The combination with a gyroscopic stabilizer for ships, a braking means therefor, a safety ,sto a locking means, means for normally app ying the brake as the gyroscope approaches the limits of its precessional swlngs, means of releasing the brake as the ship reverses its roll, and extraordina means for non-releasably applying the bra e and look when the gyroscope strikes said stop.

In testimony signature.

III

III

whereof I have aflixed my 

